A&O and CC advise on Merck's £1.6bn takeover of AZ
Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance (CC) and Ashurst have landed the leading roles on Merck's proposed £1.6bn takeover of London-listed chemical company AZ Electronic Materials. The German drugs and chemicals company has agreed to acquire AZ in an all-cash deal, in a bid to access more growth areas in the electronics industry.
December 06, 2013 at 09:36 AM
2 minute read
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Clifford Chance (CC) have scored the leading roles on Merck's proposed £1.6bn takeover of London-listed chemical company AZ Electronic Materials.
The German drugs and chemicals company has agreed to acquire AZ in an all-cash deal, in a bid to access more growth areas in the electronics industry.
Luxembourg-headquartered AZ manufactures chemicals used in electronic devices made by manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Intel.
Merck is the world's largest manufacturer of liquid crystal displays for televisions, smartphones and tablets. It also makes cancer drugs and laboratory equipment.
A&O City corporate partner Richard Browne and Frankfurt-based corporate partner Michael Ulmer headed up the team representing Merck on the deal.
Ashurst acted for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Merck's financial adviser, with a team led by corporate partner Tom Mercer, who was flanked by securities and derivatives consultant Stephen Edlmann.
CC advised AZ with a team led by London corporate partner Tim Lewis. AZ's financial advisers were Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and UBS.
CC took the lead on advising AZ and its private equity owners Carlyle Group and Vestar Capital partners on its $1.46bn (£893m) flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 2010 alongside Eversheds, which acted for the company's management team.
A&O has advised Merck on several deals in recent years, including a €2bn (£1.67bn) syndicated loan facility earlier this year in March and its acquisition of insolvent Konarka Group's intellectual property portfolio last December.
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